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The Democratic Alliance (DA) believes that Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Lindiwe Sisulu, must break her silence and make a public statement setting out all the facts concerning the use of back-up aircraft used to “shadow” President Jacob Zuma’s Boeing Business Jet to the United States.

The Minister cannot continue to hide behind General Carlo Gagiano, Chief of the South African Air Force (SAAF), and her ministerial spokesperson, Ndivhuwo Mbaya, who have been dealing with the political fallout from the shadow planes scandal.

The fact is that the defence department's handling of the questions surrounding the back-up aircraft used to shadow President Jacob Zuma's Boeing Business Jet has been a complete fiasco. The defence department does not seem to be able to get its story straight.

That is why the Minister needs to take full responsibility for the scandal surrounding the shadow planes and make a public statement setting out all the facts.

Last week it was revealed that a Boeing Global Express XRS was chartered from a private company to "shadow" the presidential Boeing Business Jet. The second aircraft was used as backup in case mechanical failures were experienced by the presidential jet.
 
Now it emerges that not one, but two aircraft were used to "shadow" President Jacob Zuma's Boeing Business Jet during his recent visit to the United States.

A second aircraft, a 250-seater, four-engine Airbus A340 (200 Series), was also used to "shadow" the presidential Boeing Business Jet. The Airbus A340 aircraft was chartered from and operated by South African Airways (SAA).
 
The facts are as follows:
an SAA Airbus A340  (200 Series) [SA 2205] departed Oliver Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg on Monday 09 January 2012;
the call sign of the aircraft was SA 2205;
3 pilots were onboard the aircraft;
the SAA Airbus A340 "shadowed" the presidential Boeing Business Jet to Las Palmas, Canary Islands;
the presidential Boeing Business Jet then proceeded to New York, United States;
an SAA Airbus A340 (200 Series) [SA 2206] then returned from Las Palmas, Canary Islands to Oliver Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg on Tuesday 10 January 2012, arriving back early in the morning on Wednesday 11 January 2011;
the call sign for this aircraft was SA 2206;
6 pilots and 8 cabin crew were on board the aircraft (3 of the pilots were effectively passengers, since they had flown SA 2205 on the outbound route from Oliver Tambo International, Johannesburg to Las Palmas, Canary Islands).
Moreover, the facts include:
the SAA Airbus A340 (200 Series) was met by the standby crew, comprising 3 pilots and 8 cabin crew, who had flown to Las Palmas, Canary Islands independently;
the standby crew stayed in Las Palmas, Canary Islands for 2 days waiting for the aircraft;
the standby crew flew on a scheduled SAA flight to Frankfurt and then on to Las Palmas on a scheduled Condor flight;
passengers were bumped off the SAA flight to Frankfurt in order to make space for the standby crew.
How is it that an empty 250-seater, four-engine monster of an aircraft like an Airbus A340 (200 Series) was used as a back-up aircraft to shadow President Jacob Zuma on his trip to the United States?

I would be surprised if the combined cost of operating the three aircraft did not cost upwards of R10 million.

It is simply mindboggling.

Minister Sisulu must therefore take full responsibility and make a public statement setting out all the facts, including:
why it was necessary to use two aircraft to shadow the presidential jet;
all the relevant information on the dates, times and routes of the shadow aircraft; and
the total cost of operating the three aircraft on the president's recent trip to the United States.
The real question is: Why were President Jacob Zuma and his staff not prepared to take a commercial flight to New York? Our own national carrier, South African Airways, now offers direct flights to New York from Johannesburg. If Prime Minister David Cameron can fly on British Airways, why can't President Jacob Zuma fly on South African Airways?